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HIV Update

The International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO) developed this brief to provide the HIV community with current information and analysis of new and updated clinical data on the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in preventing HIV transmission to sexual partners of people living with HIV. While the health benefits of treatment will always be the primary purpose of ART, it is vital that the secondary benefits to people living with HIV and their sexual partners be fully understood and communicated.

The Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (CCRHC) is proposing to develop a Community Consensus Statement on actions federal, provincial and territorial governments should take to address the overly broad use of the criminal law in cases of alleged HIV non-disclosure. There are several issues to be addressed in any such statement, including the question of amending the Criminal Code to narrow the scope of HIV criminalization. The Coalition is consulting with people living with HIV, service providers, communities affected by HIV and over-criminalization, scientific experts and others, across the country. This is one opportunity for input to that overall process.

Please take a moment to share your views on resisting overly broad HIV criminalization by answering four specific questions in our online survey. You can go to the survey by clicking on the link below:

The Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (CCRHC) is proposing to develop a Community Consensus Statement on actions federal, provincial and territorial governments should take to address the overly broad use of the criminal law in cases of alleged HIV non-disclosure. There are several issues to be addressed in any such statement, including the question of amending the Criminal Code to narrow the scope of HIV criminalization. The Coalition is consulting with people living with HIV, service providers, communities affected by HIV and over-criminalization, scientific experts and others, across the country. This is one opportunity for input to that overall process.

Please take a moment to share your views on resisting overly broad HIV criminalization by answering four specific questions in our online survey. You can go to the survey by clicking on the link below:

A Toronto pharmacist is pushing to make a generic equivalent of an expensive anti-HIV drug cheaper and more accessible to the public and especially to gay men.

Michael Fanous works primarily with the LGBT community in Toronto. He says around 25 per cent of gay men in Toronto are infected with HIV and another 85 per cent of sexually active gay men are at risk of getting the virus.

Taking preventative medication called pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, can dramatically reduce the risk of contracting HIV if taken every day as prescribed. But Fanous has found through his conversations with those he works with, largely gay and bisexual men, that not everyone feels they can easily access it.

“We can prevent HIV with this medication but the number one reason many men don’t take it is the cost,” he said.

Currently, PrEP is sold by pharmaceutical giant Gilead under the brand name Truvada.

On a regular basis, Fanous is having conversations with people in the community, especially gay and bisexual men, about the drug and its benefits.

Part of his outreach includes raising awareness among doctors, who he says advocate for testing and treatment of HIV rather than educate and suggest effective prevention strategies like PrEP.

Ryan Lisk with the AIDS Committee of Toronto says PrEP is currently only accessible by people who have money and good benefit plans. (Devin Heroux/ CBC)

He says the hope is that its generic equivalent will be available as soon as July. And if all goes according to plan, he hopes, it will cost a quarter of that amount.

“The challenge that gay men are having is that it becomes accessible only for people who have money and great benefit plans… So this is a huge game-changer for gay men,” he said.

Ron Rosenes has been living with HIV for most of his life. He says the community of gay men could greatly benefit from a cheaper equivalent to PrEP.

Activist Ron Rosenes says the local community of gay men needs more affordable access to PrEP or an equivalent. (Devin Heroux/CBC)

“We need access to affordable PrEP,” he said. “We need it to be available in this province and across the country to the people most at risk and we need it to be prescribed by a wide variety of healthcare providers.”

For Fanous, the fight is personal as well as professional. He himself takes the drug every day.

“This is my community, these are my friends, partners and family members that are affected by HIV,” Fanous said. “I’m at risk myself as a gay man of being infected with HIV.”

The Canadian Legal AIDS Network is holding its seventh symposium on HIV, law and human rights in Toronto, Thursday June 15, 2017. This year’s symposium will be focusing on the unjust criminalization of HIV non-disclosure. Some of the discussion topics include; Voices Rising: Speaking out about the experience of HIV criminalization. Science of HIV transmission: Recent applications and emerging issues. Advocacy and the ways forward are also on the agenda.